


Dibs

by LibbyWeasley



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, FitzSimmons - Freeform, Fluff, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 08:17:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibbyWeasley/pseuds/LibbyWeasley
Summary: When Fitz sees Trip flirting with Jemma, he lets his jealousy get the better of him.





	Dibs

**Author's Note:**

> A huge shout-out to @ritalara for helping me talk through the early idea for this story, and to @blancasplayground, the best beta in the world!
> 
> There has been a lot of love for Trip recently on tumblr and this is my take on some of my favorite Trip scenes, Trip and Jemma talking and Fitz staring at them like his world is ending. Poor Fitz.

_ She’s mine _ .

The words had been echoing inside his head since the first time Fitz had seen Trip flirt with Jemma. The smile she had given Trip was one of her big, genuine smiles. The kind that made her eyes all twinkly. It had been a long time since he had to contend with another man in her life, and that had been...before. It felt different this time, after almost losing her. He had gotten used to not having to share her attention, and could almost pretend they were more than friends. But now, he was the outsider again and another man was taking his place. Not that it was  _ his  _ place to flirt with Jemma. They didn’t need that sort of superficial exchange of meaningless words. They were connected on a much deeper level. Sometimes it felt like every time his heart beat it was for her. It was part of the way their lives were bound together. And everyone else seemed to be aware of it as an almost tangible thing. 

Everyone except Trip. 

And now Trip — seriously, what had happened to just calling people by their last names, when did they start using cool nicknames — was once again talking to Jemma, making her laugh and touch his arm as she gazed up at him. That was how she was supposed to touch  _ his  _ arm, not a smooth-talking field agent who turned out to be a loyal friend and all-around good guy. But here they were. Jemma never even looked his way before walking away from Trip with a little wave. She seemed to be making an effort to avoid catching his eye actually. And he should know because he had been staring at her the entire time, ostensibly waiting for his simulation to finish running. 

He was alone with Trip now, the team enjoying an uncharacteristic moment of calm now that they were between missions. He studied the other man for a moment. He was tall, had a bit of muscle on him, always smiling and making jokes. No, he had no idea what Jemma could possibly see in Trip. 

“She’s mine.” This time the words were spoken aloud, like the constant thrumming in his head had somehow made the thought corporeal. Fitz knew he was being irrational, and he really had no business getting involved in Jemma’s personal life, but his head and his heart were pulling him in different directions. 

“Sorry, man, I didn’t hear you all the way over here.”

Trip was giving him an expectant look and a smile, and Fitz recognized the gift he had been given. All he had to do now was walk away and it would be like the words had never been spoken. 

“Oh...ah, nothing.”

“Really? Because it sounded a little like you were trying to call dibs on Simmons.”

After not getting an answer, except a scowl that Fitz tried to pull back, Trip raised his hands, as if in surrender. “I didn’t realize you and Simmons were together. She’s an amazing woman.”

“I know that,” he ground out. “And she’s my...my lab partner. We work together.” Searching for the right words was usually not that difficult, but he didn’t want to overdo it. “And she’s brilliant, the smartest person I’ve ever met. So she deserves a chance to focus on her career and being in the field. That is what she’s worked so hard for.”

His voice trailed off. After all, those were his reasons for not telling her how he felt. That...and also the fact he was afraid of what she might say. 

Fitz squinted up at Trip to see if his message had been clear. 

“Alright...alright. I didn’t know she was already taken. But I get it.” Trip came closer and Fitz reflexively took a step back, maintaining enough distance in case he needed to make a break towards the door. 

“I wouldn’t...it’s not like that,” Fitz finally said. “We are friends. I’m just...I’m just looking out for her.”

“Uh-huh.” Trip did not look convinced. “Like I said, I didn’t know. We were just having fun talking. Nothing else.”

“No, uh, of course. It’s fine.” Fitz felt like he had been the winner of this conversation. Could you win a conversation? No matter. He hadn’t gotten punched in the face and Trip knew to keep away from Jemma. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

Trip gave him a big, toothy grin, like they were in on a secret together and went back to inventorying supplies. They worked in a sort of companionable silence for a few moments and Fitz started reconsidering his words.  He had just made his mind up to apologize to Trip, after all if she would be happy with Trip then he really shouldn’t stand in their way, when Jemma walked back into the room. 

She looked beautiful and vivacious, and every cell in her body was calling to him. And he loved her. He was hit with the realization every time she walked into a room — which in a workspace this small happened a lot. It had happened so often that he was starting to get used to the way he felt whenever he saw her, so that it was just a dull ache in the background rather than the insistent pain of longing for something he couldn’t have. 

“Fitz, can I speak to you for a moment?” Her voice was gentle, but he could hear the steel beneath. He really hoped she hadn’t heard the entire conversation. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t be happy about him trying to claim her. He just didn’t know what else he was supposed to do. 

He pretended to be engrossed in the program on his tablet. “Hmmm...of course.”

“Alone,” she responded firmly, glancing towards Trip. 

“I was just heading out to talk to Coulson. I’ll catch up with you two later.”

Once they were alone, Jemma stepped closer. He took a deep breath and her scent surrounded him. Her perfume was something flowery, but not too overpowering. And the rest was all Jemma. The girl he had known and the woman she had become all tangled up together in his mind.

“Fitz, I heard what you told Trip—“

“—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—“

“—and I think it’s sweet.”

“Wait, what? You do?”

“Of course I do, Fitz. You are my best friend. And you don’t need to worry, because nothing is going to change.” Her words were obviously meant to be comforting, but her tone was firm. 

Fitz rubbed a hand across his forehead. That was the problem right there. 

“But...you don’t get to make my choices for me. If I want to flirt with Trip I will. And if I want a boyfriend or a husband or a one-night stand, then that is my choice too.”

So she didn’t really think it was sweet. She was just trying to spare his feelings. He should have just kept his mouth shut. Her words felt a lot like rejection, though and he couldn’t hold a flare of anger back. 

“Well,  _ Jemma _ , I’m just trying to look out for you —“

“No,  _ Leo _ , you aren’t—“

“Just because Trip is charming and handsome doesn’t meet he would be good—“

“Seriously Fitz, this isn’t your decision.”  She took a deep breath and stepped back from him. “And besides, Trip isn’t really my type.”

“Your type? Isn’t he everyone’s type?”

“Fitz!” she burst out with a laugh, their argument temporarily derailed. “You know it has to do with pheromones and commonalities...oh, and physical compatibility.”

“Why, Simmons, it almost sounds like you have a checklist,” he teased, much happier with the current direction of the conversation. He was pretty sure he could count on Trip not to make a move on her. He didn’t really need to convince Jemma anyway.

He smiled at her, taking in her guilty expression. “Wait...you  _ do  _ have a checklist.”

“Ugh, Fitz!” She threw her hands up and turned her back to him. “It sounds so much worse when  _ you  _ say it.”

“So what is your type?” Fitz knew he was pushing it, but this information may be useful later...if he ever managed to stop being such a coward about his feelings and just tell her.

“Grumpy, possessive, oblivious engineers, apparently,” she muttered under her breath. She was still turned away from him, so it was hard to be sure, but he was almost certain that is what she said.

But then she turned around, smile back in place. “Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’m not really looking for someone to date while we’re out in the field, anyway.”

But Fitz’s mind was still stuck back on her previous sentence. The one she didn’t really mean for him to hear. He tried to think of any other engineers she could be talking about. There had been someone back at Sci-Ops who could fit that description. But if she wanted to be with Mark, she had ample opportunity. She could probably call him right now if she wanted to.

“What are you working on?” She came to stand behind him so she could see the tablet, apparently ready to forgive him for what he said to Trip. That was good, because as much as he liked her when she was all fiery with emotion, he really liked it better when she was close to him like this. 

“Just running the simulations Coulson asked for. Nothing all that interesting. See here?” He pointed at the charts and graphs he was creating from all the data he had generated. “It doesn't look like there is any impact at all from changes to the temperature or pressure on the metal.”

Jemma was peering over his shoulder, standing so close to him that he could feel the heat radiating from her. It made him nervous and excited, and his body started to respond. First he told Trip that Jemma belonged to him like some sort of neanderthal, and now he was getting a hard-on from talking to her. He pushed the tablet towards her and tried to put some distance between them, but she put her hand on his arm, pulling him back to her.

“No, Fitz...just here.” He looked to where her finger pointed at the graph showing the two variables together. Of course she was right. She was always right.

“Well, then that means --” 

“Yes, it does--”

“--we have to tell Coulson.”

Facing Jemma again, a familiar need surged through him. Resisting her was getting harder and harder. And the adrenaline rush he got from his work would forever be connected to the feeling of being with her. She was smiling at him and he made fists with his hands to keep from reaching for her.

But it wasn’t enough.

“Fitz! Do you know what this means?” She was positively giddy. He loved seeing her like this. So intense and excited about what they had found together. Technically they  _ had _ been together when she had noticed what he had missed. He had just been too distracted by other things to pay close enough attention to the data. 

But none of that mattered now. Her hand was on his arm and she was so close. If he just leaned towards her, he could kiss her. He wondered if her lips were as soft as they looked, and if she would lean towards him to kiss him back. It seemed like his brain was no longer in charge, because at the thought of what he wanted to do he felt himself moving towards her. He was tired of fighting how he felt about her, and he couldn’t keep every other man away from her. Her reaction to what he said to Trip made that perfectly clear. He would either lose her to another man, or lose her anyway because she thought he was trying to make her decisions for her. The only way to explain it was to do something he couldn’t say with words. 

They were face to face now, his head angled down towards her and her hand tightened on his arm. He looked into her eyes and leaned closer, giving her time to pull away or tell him to stop, if that is what she wanted. And then...and then they were kissing.

Her lips were soft and started moving against his almost immediately, while one of her hands came up to his cheek and the other wrapped around his shoulder, tablet still grasped tightly in her hand. It took him a moment to unfist his hands, but once he did both arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly against him, so tightly that she must have felt how hard he was. Jemma’s tongue pressed against his lips and he opened his mouth in surprise. Her tongue brushed insistently against his and his hands tightened on her back. He forced himself to relax and dropped his hands to rest on her hips, rubbing his thumbs nervously over the warm skin under her shirt. After a moment she pulled back and rested her head on his shoulder, taking deep, shuddering breaths.

“Physical compatibility...check,” she muttered, turning her face into his neck.

Her words weren’t making sense. Not that he could bring himself to care. Jemma was in his arms and he had just kissed her. And she hadn’t run away or told him they should just be friends. Not yet at least.

“Fitz, you should probably go tell Coulson what you found.” His arms were still wrapped around her, trapping her body against his, but she had pulled away from him far enough to look up into his eyes.

Letting her go, reluctantly...very reluctantly since he didn’t know if she’d let him do that again, he took the tablet she was holding up for him.

“Right...I, ah...Coulson.” He shook his head to clear some of the fog from his brain.

“I’ll wait here,” she said, taking a seat at his workstation, “and when you get back we can talk about the rest of my checklist” Her nose scrunched up and crease appeared on her forehead, “And also how it isn’t appropriate to call dibs on a woman like she’s a toy you don’t want to share.”

He could tell she wasn’t really angry at him, so her words didn’t worry him that much, though he knew he owed her apology. He just stared back at her, thinking about how lucky he was to have her...as his friend and maybe as something more. 

“Fitz!” Her voice jolted him back to the present and he gave her a puzzled look. “Coulson.”

Oh, right. Well, the faster he shared their findings with Coulson, the faster he could get back to Jemma, and see how many other ways they might be compatible.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear your comments and ideas. :)
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr @libbyweasley


End file.
